Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Here's some lessons I've learned in my first month of graduate school:

1.) Thou shalt covet printer ink- That shiz runs out faster than Rick Perry at a Mitt Romney fundraiser.
2.) Thou shalt ruin thy eyeballs by placing four book pages on one printed page- It's the cost of being an environmentalist, bro. Not to mention a cheapass.
3.) Thou shalt ingest grand amounts of granola bars- The ultimate "I'm starving but I must scrutinize these last 4,000 pages vilifying postpositivism" snack.

So when I volunteered to make granola bars for my fellow grad students, including a self-described granola connoisseur, the pressure was on. A battle royale between me and those corporate jokers over at Quaker, if you will.

I always get nervous about serving others my food. What if something's wrong with my tastebuds? Do these granola bars that I love actually taste like the back-end of a diseased bobcat?

But these got the thumbs up from my granola experts, temporarily setting all diseased bobcat fears aside. I'll even suggest bleeding out some printer ink for this recipe-- it's that good.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars   Makes 1 dozen bars
3 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup applesauce
¼ cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips


1.) Preheat oven to 350. 
2.) Meanwhile, add oats, the spices, and salt into a large bowl. Stir to combine.
3.) In a separate bowl, add the brown sugar, pumpkin, applesauce, honey, and vanilla extract. Mix well. 
4.) Add the wet ingredients to the oats. Mix until all of the oats are moist, then fold in the chocolate chips.
5.) Press the oats into a greased 8 x 8 inch baking pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool and cut into twelve bars.


Recipe very slightly adapted from: Two Peas & their Pod